From One War to the Next
by Lunasana
Summary: This is my first LOTR HP crossover. FemHarry. Harry/Oc. Sofia wakes up to a strange Dumbledore-look-a-like called Gandalf. Her only comfort is that Fawks is with her too. dragged into another war she is forced to fight and maybe find love...
1. Chapter 1

**This is my first LOTR HP crossover. I don't know who to pair her with so...**

**Sofia/Aragon**

**Sofia/Legolas**

**i could also do: Sofia/Aragon/Legolas if it gets enough votes.**

As Sofia neared consciousness she became aware of dull throbs that pulsed thru her body, it felt like she'd been working out overtime then gone on a country-to-country portkey. Opening her eyes she moaned in pain. what was wrong with her?

Forcing herself into a sitting position she bit back a whimper of pain, staring blurrily around she was forced to close her eyes and take a few deep breaths before opening them again. Everything was too bright, too colourful, it hurt her eyes. She seemed to be in a forest? Tree's towered over her, their leaves were dark and...leaf shaped. Everything was moist as if it had just rained recently. Sofia froze, she wasn't wet. Why wasn't she wet? Looking down she found she was lying on some sort of cloth bed, a blanket bunched around her waist. another throb of pain pulsed thru her body making her slump down, her vision turned blurry before she was asleep once more.

The second time she woke it was because she smelt food, broth to be exact. She snuggled deeper into the blankets that covered her before she froze, Kletcher, Dobby and Winky never made food without her asking them to make her food, the only person who could cook was Hermione and she'd been killed by Greyback. If Ron, Dean, Seamus, Michal, Terry, Luna, Ginny or Alice tried it would smell burnt, besides they were all dead.

She acted immediately, rolling out of the blankets she landed in a crouch, or would have landed in a crouch. Instead she rolled to far and slid on mud making her fall on all fours. Why had she gotten it wrong? She never got it wrong. Her limbs felt sluggish and awkward. Hearing laughter she forced herself into a crouch and reached for her knives and wand. Sofia always preferred to fight with a muggle weapon in one hand and a wand in the other. If she was lying down then the Sword of Gryffindor wouldn't be on her, but she never went without a knife, dagger, cutlass, hell Moody had taught her how to kill with a paper clip. Her hand closed around a hilt, a hilt that wasn't hers. Dropping it she jumped away and rolled to the left. If it was Lucius she was dealing with then he would play with her, same with Bellatrix, Greyback and Trina. But they were all dead, she should known she took them all out, personally. The reason she'd dropped the knife was because sometimes Bellatrix poisoned the weapons that gagged her prisoner in a fight, making them think that they had a small chance at freedom, the poison on the hilt would kill the slowly then she'd watch them as it began to take effect. It was always painful, she lived to cause pain. Her eyes snapped open and stared at the old man who was laughing. He was old, Dumbledore old. A long grey beard, bushy eyebrows, that type, the stereotypical 'old man' look. But instead of Dumbledore's brightly coloured clothes he wore a grey robe with a grey had that really pointed a flashing arrow saying: 'Wizard'. A sword hung on his belt and a staff by his side, his whole presence made the hairs on Sofia's neck stand on end.

Sofia backed away, probably looking like a scared animal but she didn't trust this man, he might look old and feeble but there was something about him that screamed Power. Not physical or magical strength but...just Power. It rolled of him in waves, creating a cloud around him that made sure people knew he was there. Magical people anyway, muggles might not feel the pure amount of Power but they would feel something.

"Relax child." The man chuckled, his beard wagging comically. Sofia didn't relax and she didn't continue to back away, she crouched down and stared at him, there wasn't a person on Earth who didn't want her for some reason. "I mean you no harm," he continued as if she was going to believe him. too many people lied, too many people. "I am Gandalf the Grey, and you are on Middle-Earth."

Sofia frowned at the strange name, "Middle-Earth?" she questioned, her voice was hoarse and rough around the edges from misuse, "What sort of name is that? Is it between two Earths?" although she would not admit it she liked the sound of Middle-Earth, there was something nice about it.

Gandalf chuckled, "I am not sure, but it is called Middle-Earth." He smiled at her, she only narrowed her eyes in return. Only when hell froze over would she trust a stranger out of the blue. It was ingrained into her to be suspicious of anyone. Sofia opened her mouth to question him further when a beautiful song came to her ears. Sofia's eyes widened,

"Fawkes!" she called out, if she had been less suspicious of Gandalf she might have looked up to find Fawkes. Fawkes appeared from the edge of her vision, he swooped down and landed in front of her, in front of the knife she'd dropped. He sang a few more heart warming notes before falling silent.

"We can trust him?" Sofia asked, Fawkes could naturally feel if there was anyone around with ill intentions.

**Yes, child** a voice whispered in her mind, when she had bonded with Fawkes at age twelve they'd been able to speak mentally. Fawkes had felt that she was far more worthy to be bonded with him then Dumbledore. Dumbledore had tried to be good but like someone once said, 'the Path to hell is paved with good intentions,'. He thought what he was doing was good, when Fawkes left him he realised how far he had strayed from the path of light. He had dropped several titles and focused solely on Hogwarts and herself, he'd began training her then.

Sofia was tempted to ask if Fawkes was sure but she knew that was Mad-Eyes paranoia shinning thru. She missed Mad-Eye, he'd been her favourite mentor. "Where are we Fawkes?"

**Middle-Earth. The Valar think that you have earned a chance to have another childhood.** Fawkes informed her,

"Childhood? I'm not a child." Sofia huffed in annoyance, even though her greatest advantage had always been the fact that her enemies always underestimated her because of her age she never had liked the fact that the Order had never really looked at her with seriousness, yes she had been 14 at the time but she'd been trained by the best. Only Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick, Snape-yes he actually listened to her-and Sirius had really looked at her and listened to her with seriousness. Mrs Weasley had always tried to convince Dumbledore to put her out with Ron, Hermione, Ginny, Fred and George but her pleas had always been forgotten.

"I'm afraid that you are," Fawkes and her both looked up to Gandalf who'd spoken. He smiled at Sofia, he might not have ill intentions but it always took a while to fully trust someone. "When the Valar brought you here they gave you a new body, you look around ten years old. You are an elf now," he told her.

"I have the body of a child?" Sofia asked, her voice strained as she tried to comprehend that she was physically ten...TEN. with a flick of her hand, a lot of magical power and a mental image a small bedroom wall type mirror appeared. it hit the ground and stayed upright as Sofia inspected herself with a sinking heart.

She looked ten, when she'd entered Hogwarts she'd looked ten but now she really looked ten. She hadn't looked this ten when she _was_ ten. There's always been a type of harshness in her face, the skinny face, the large eyes, the hollow cheekbones. She'd been starved so she'd lost the puppy fat pretty quickly.

She was small but taller than she'd been when she'd been ten. Silky black hair fell to her knee's, it made her look younger because it seemed to be bigger than her. she felt her heart ache a bit when she realised the messy curls it had always been in was gone. Right now it looked like someone had attacked it with a straighter then used...what was that shampoo called? Channel? Shannel? Instead of the dark brown it was as dark as midnight, it shimmered like stars in the light. She'd always been pale but this made her look like she'd never seen the sunlight. Her face was angular. Her lips were a pouty blood red that would look alluring and kissable if she had not been so young, so instead it was classed at cute. She had high cheek bones and a perfect nose. Her now large almond eyes were slanted and framed by long lashes, the forest green was gone. The green that had always connected her with her mother despite the fact that she looked like her father was gone. Her heart ached a little more at the sight, instead two glittering emerald green orbs flecked with silver stood in their place. They glowed with power and mystery making her look unearthly. But she already looked unearthly, she was too beautiful, too perfect. A tear slid down her cheek, a perfectly shaped tear that glittered like a rainbow. A phoenix tear, because she was bonded with Fawkes she got a Phoenix as a animagus along with her original animagus. Although she wasn't supposed to take on any parts of her animagus in her human form she'd blotched that part. There was a potion that you were supposed to use, she hadn't read the book properly because she didn't drink the potion. She'd gained a few other physical and none physical things because of that. Her gaze rose to look at her forehead, it was gone...her forehead was clear! No ugly mark marred it, no scar that set her apart. A smile lit up her face, for a moment the shadow raised from her eyes making her look as young as she was supposed to look.

Fawkes flew up and perched on her shoulder. Although it looked strange that such a little girl could hold the weight of the heavy bird she could. For the first time Sophia looked at what she was wearing, her mouth promptly dropped open. Deciding to take it from her head down she inspected herself.

Her hair had been braided back with circular tube shaped silver clips that looked beautiful against her shimmering black hair, the hair around her face and ears had been braided back, silver clips put in random places to look good and hold it up, though she suspected to mainly look good. Around her shoulders hung a dark green, almost black, cloak that fell to her ankles, a silver chain held both sides together. She was wearing a bark brown open jacket under it, the jacket went to below her bottom but her top went to her knee's. Her top was a light green, embroidered with a darker green. It had two slits up the side for better movement. Around her waist was a bark brown belt with a silver buckle, on either side of her waist were two sheathes for two long knives. They both had knives in them. A bit in front of her right sheathe was a black pouch. The brief part of her leggings that could be seen showed they were a dark green like her cloak. Her boots went to her knee's, they were a black leather and had thick soles. A brief examination showed two hidden daggers in each of her boots, on the outside. The heels and toes of her boots were capped in metal, it looked like silver but she couldn't tell for certain. Checking her wrist she frowned when she couldn't find her wand. Looking around her began to panic.

"Fawkes do you know where my wand is?" she asked softly, with a flick she let the mirror fade away. Fawkes trilled sadly and shook his head.

"Wand? I am afraid that we do not use wands in middle-Earth, we use staffs. You will have to make one I'm afraid." Gandalf said, giving her a sad look. "But these came with you." He stood and walked to a bag that had been laying near to where Sofia had woken. Sofia had a flashback about Santa Clause for a minute before pushing the though away. From it he drew a dyed blue horn with copper fastening. The Horn of Ravenclaw, it had become the unofficial sound that was heard when they attacked Death-Eaters, when you heard the horn of Ravenclaw you knew help was here. He tossed it to her, Sofia caught it with seeker reflexes, giving him a glance she cast a few detection spells and nodded with satisfaction when she found none. Running her finger along it she nodded again when she found no liquid or flakes that would mean poison.

"Fawkes could you move for a moment?" Sofia requested. Fawkes trilled in affirmative and glided to the ground. Unclipping the cloak she put the strap of the horn around her shoulder, it automatically adjusted itself to hang by her waist.

"And this came," Looking at Gandalf she watched as he drew a long gleaming silver and gold sword. The blade was silver and double sided, in cursive writing stood: _Gryffindor_. The hilt was golden and inlaid with rubies. Instead of tossing it to her he held it out, hilt first. Sofia took it and sighed when she realised that she was too small to wield it. "I'm going to have to strap it to my back," she told Fawkes and by extension Gandalf.

**Your pouch has a lightening charm and a bottomless charm.** Fawkes trilled to her, with a thankful nod she slipped it into her pouch a moment l.

"Is that all?" she asked, he nodded.

"All that is left it my own things." he clarified when he saw Sofia looking at the bulky shapes that could be identified.

"Thank you Gandalf." Sofia told him softly. She looked for the knife she'd drawn when she'd first woken only to find it missing. "Do you know where the knife I drew at first it?" she asked looking around.

"I believe the Valar enchanted it so your weapons would return to you if you lost them." Gandalf told her. Sofia nodded and drew one of the knifes on her belt. The blade was double sided, it was a strange white colour that shone more than it should in the light. The handle was made from bone, from the carved dragon wrapped around the place where the blade met the hilt Sophia assumed it was from a dragon. A white gem was placed on the top of the hilt, it glowed faintly. Sheathing it Sofia inspected the second knife.

"Do you know what metal this is?" Sofia asked, she'd never seen anything like it.

"That is Mithril, a rare and favoured metal among Dwarfs. The hilt is Dragon fang, the jewel is a shaving from a star." Gandalf told her, watching her face carefully. Outwardly she showed not change but inside she had frozen. She sheathed it and pulled the dagger from her boot, the blade was also Mithril, the hilt silver and covered in designs. There was no jewel but Sophia didn't mind.

"What now?" she asked, Fawkes flew back to her shoulder where he perched with experience. What Fawkes had always liked about Sofia was that she let him sit on her shoulder then she went out and did things. Dumbledore had always had him on a perch, never bringing him anywhere unless he needed transport. Sofia never took advantage of him, only his tears for healing after battles, and when she needed to go somewhere in an emergency. She treated him like she would treat a friend, with love and not need.

"The Valar sent me to bring you to Rivendell where you can stay until you are old enough to travel Middle-Earth." Gandalf told her with a grandfatherly smile. Sofia cringed.

"You mean to tell me your putting me under house arrest in this Rivendell place?" she asked, already hating Rivendell. It was habit for her now to move around every day. Never staying in one place to long, always moving, always sleeping on the ground around a fire. She hadn't slept in a bed since she was fifteen. Four years ago. She was nineteen now.

"No, but you are an elf. Elves are rarely born to the elves because of their immortality. They will die if killed but they can live forever if not. Every elf born is treasured and kept safe." That speech might work for people who had grown up loving where they lived, being doted on by loving parents. It sounded nice but for Sofia everything had a catch. There was always a 'but' hidden in those honeyed words somewhere. Because of her childhood Sofia was also not a big person for physical interaction, then Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick, Snape and Mad-Eye Moody had began training her on Sundays so she only had Saturday's to be with her friends, then she spent every holiday being trained. Then the war had began and she only touched people because she was killing them. she rarely hugged or let herself be hugged. She also only let others touch her when they were leaning on her for support because they were tired or were falling unconscious due to blood loss. So being doted on and hugged was not her thing. The only person she had daily interaction with was Fawkes, and he was a bird for crying out loud. Before Hedwig had died they'd been very close. So no, she was not a physical person. She might have been in a different life but not in this one.

"I'd rather travel with you, the lesser of two evils." Sofia told him honestly. He frowned but sighed.

"The elves would kill me if they heard that I had an elfling travelling with me and not with them." he told her.

"I am not a born Elfling, I have nothing tying myself to them. I am an elf but then again when I was human I wasn't being doted on. I trust you more then I trust elves in Rivendell." Sofia told him, she'd never used puppy eyes but there was always a first time. Giving him big eyes she made her bottom lip quiver as if she was going to cry. His eyes widened as he began to panic.

"Don't cry, I'm sure that you can travel with me." The tear act dropped and Sofia smirked at him. he paused for a moment before scowling at her, but the twinkle in his eyes and hit twitching lips betrayed him amusement.

"So where are we going?" she asked stroking Fawkes who trilled in amusement. He nudged her cheek with his head.

"The Shire then Rivendell. I'm sure my friend Bilbo Baggins would love to meet you." Gandalf chuckled.


	2. Chapter 2

**the Votes on the pairings are still going, o feel free to vote. for the people who were asking about Aragon and Arwen I am going to put Arwen with someone else.**

Gandalf watched Sofia from the corner of his eyes. He knew a fighter when he saw one and everything about her screamed it. after she got used to her new body she'd began to get her old walk back. The way her movements flowed into each other screamed the fact that she was a warrior, normal woman did not move like that, she was soundless and confident but also stealthy and dangerous. The way Sofia carried herself also screamed 'fighter'. she always held her head high, her shoulders back, never slouching. She had an aura around her that felt cold and promised pain if you looked at her wrong. Her eyes were filled with power, mystery and shadows. Whenever Gandalf looked into those beautiful emerald orbs he felt like she knew the worlds secrets. Her voice was another thing that pointed out to Gandalf that she was a warrior, although it was soft it caught his attention and made him listen. She was used to giving orders and having them followed. Also the way her hands would sometimes brush against her weapons. Whenever they passed anyone Sofia would give them a look that made them hurry on and not look back. It was a cold look that threw people off. He'd seen her practising with her knives and it was like watching someone dance, if any other had moved like that Gandalf would have rolled his eyes and muttered 'show off', but her? the way she moved her wrists so that she held her knives in the best possible way to cause as much damage as possible. Also the sword of Gryffindor, when she'd first seen it her eyes had lit up, she'd held it with pride and knowledge, the type of knowledge that showed she'd used it to fight. Also the horn, she didn't put it in her fantastic pouch, she always had it within reaching distance. Never letting it out of sight. When he'd enquired about it she'd told him flatly: '_when people heard it, it brought them hope. We were here and we were going to protect them from the evil_'. He didn't know her past but he knew she wouldn't hesitate to kill if attacked.

At the moment she was sitting beside him as they clattered up to Hobbiton. She'd watched him make his firecrackers in fascination as if she'd never seen such a thing before. He could tell that she was looking forwards to seeing them go off.

Now that he thought about it he'd never seen her relax properly unless Fawkes was near her and she knew that no-one would attack her or was watching her. Fawkes was gliding above them. his magnificent gold and crimson feathers shining in the sun. Gandalf was enthralled by Fawkes. He'd never seen such a beautiful bird, nay creature. He loved to listen as Fawkes sang, it brought him hope, courage, strength. He knew they were close, the way Sofia would glance up from time to time to make sure he was okay. He'd had the shock of seeing her turn into a Phoenix and join Fawkes in the sky. He'd sat for a full ten minutes gaping at them. unable to get him mind to process the fact that he'd seen a skin-changer change into a _bird._ When he questioned her she'd told him that she would also turn into a wolf. He supposed it explained why her canines were sharper than normal canines, also why her nails narrowed as if going into a point. Her eyes were also more almond shaped then any elves he knew.

Hearing his name being called he looked up, they'd been travelling on a road that had been dug up, so they were lower than the grass land above them. below them they could see a gentle slope that flattened out when a lake appeared; a few tree's were dotted around, between Hobbit holes, vegetable gardens, picket fences and another road.

Standing above them was a dark haired Hobbit, Frodo had always stuck out because of his complexion. Black hair and blue eyes, he was also elf pale. Hobbits were normally tanned from all their work in the sun, Frodo for some reason wasn't tanned. He was nudged out of his thoughts by Frodo crossing his arms and trying to look stern.

"Your late." He announced. Gandalf looked at him sternly, doing a much better impression then Frodo who'd lips were twitching.

"A wizard is never late Frodo Baggins. Nor is he early. He arrives precisely when he means too. not a moment before." They glared at each other for a moment, out of the corner of his eye Gandalf could see the confused look in Sofia's eyes, though her face remained impassive and slightly bored. For Sofia you had to look into her eyes to see what she was really thinking. He fixed his eyes on Frodo once more, for a moment they glared at each other before bursting into joyous laughter.

"Frodo, it is good to see you!" Gandalf said with a large smile. Frodo jumped from her perch onto Gandalf were he proceeded to hug him happily.

"It's good to see you." Frodo said happily. He had not seen the wizard for a year and had been getting worried, especially as Bilbo's birthday was coming near and Gandalf had not come. He turned his attention to the girl who was edging away from them with a look if discomfort on her face. "I am Frodo Baggins." He said deciding that she probably felt awkward not knowing him.

"I know, Gandalf speaks of you often. And your uncle," she added after a moment. Frodo smiled at that piece of information. "I am Sofia." She nodded and him politely. Frodo didn't know wither he should hold out his hand or not. he normally knew what to do but there was something about Sofia that made him question his every move, as if he didn't want to seem a threat. She seemed cold and powerful, the way her eyes glowed was proof enough for him that he did not want to get in her way.

"Ignore her," Gandalf told him with a chuckle, seeing his discomfort. "Sofia does not like physical contact. It is one of her quirks." Sofia arched an elegant eyebrow at Gandalf, she looked at Frodo for a moment making him shift uncomfortably under her gaze. After a minute she smiled softly at him, it was almost as if she was trying to see if she still could smile but Frodo didn't mind that fact. Though he did feel as if he had just passed a test.

"How long have you been travelling together for?" Frodo asked politely, he tried not to show how uncomfortable he felt in Sofia's presence.

"Oh, a month at most. She decided that she would travel with me despite my urgings for her to go to Rivendell. I believe she called it: 'the lesser of two evils'." Gandalf chuckled. Sofia didn't look bothered about the wizard giving away information so easily so Frodo took that as a good sign, though he did wonder why she counted Rivendell and Gandalf as an evil. After a moment of debating he decided she had probably just used it. he also did not want to question her on it, she looked like a person who valued privacy and Frodo was anything if not a mannered gentleman.

"Ah, how have your adventures been?" Frodo asked eagerly, it was no secret that Frodo yearned to go on an adventure. The whole Shire knew it, thus Frodo was made to be more of an oddity then before.

"Good, good. I will have to tell you them another time. How is Bilbo?" Gandalf asked, in truth he had not done much adventuring for various reasons. He would probably retell one of his other stories. Fawkes, it seemed, had decided to make his presence known. He swooped down and landed neatly on Sofia's shoulder. Frodo leaped closer to Gandalf in shock and part fear.

"What bird is that?" he demanded, his eyes glued to the beautiful bird perched on Sofia's shoulder.

"This is Fawkes, he is a rare species called a Phoenix." Sofia told him, she reached a hand up and stroked Fawkes crimson chest. Frodo was about to ask further but then saw the peaceful look in Sofia's eyes. So instead he bit his tongue and studied the marvellous bird. _It must be the elves among the birds_ he decided. He had heard many tales from Bilbo about the beauty of elves and decided that, even though he had never seen an elf—he did not yet know that Sofia was an elf—this bird must be their bird presence among birds. He idly wondered if he would ever see a Hobbit presence among birds. An image of a short, stubby, feathery bird weighed down in bird armour entered his head, he could almost see a beard falling down from under the birds beak. He bit his tongue once more to stop the laughter from escaping, it would be too confusing and strange to tell the reason why he was laughing.

"he's a beautiful bird." He told her honestly. Fawkes preened himself as if he had known what the words meant.

"He can understand you." Sofia told him, she turned and looked at him with a faint smile, almost as if she had known what he had being thinking. "Phoenix's are naturally intelligent creatures." Fawkes trilled a few notes making Sofia smile, Frodo felt happiness pop up inside of him for no reason other than the beauty of the birds song.

"Back to my question, how is Bilbo?" Gandalf asked, wanting to know from his secret source how Bilbo was. Gandalf suspected that Bilbo suspected that Frodo was his source but Bilbo had never commented on it so it was okay.

"Oh, he'd been very distracted lately." Frodo told him honestly. "When he thinks I'm not looking he looks around sadly, almost as if he's never going to see the Shire again." Frodo watched Gandalf's expression carefully. Wanting to see if Gandalf knew what was going on. To his ire Gandalf gave no outwardly clues to what he was thinking.

"Is he?" Gandalf asked feigning surprise. Sofia snorted next to them gaining their attention. She met their gazes evenly.

"Has it crossed your mind Frodo that maybe Bilbo won't see the Shire again? Maybe the lonely mountains are calling him once more, maybe he wishes for another adventure, like the one he seems so fond on telling. Gandalf told me of Bilbo and his adventure." She said it not unkindly but the news made Frodo sign sadly. He knew deep in his heart that she was right, it had crossed his mind but he had not wanted to believe it. but having someone say it outright like that made that seem like the only reasonable explanation.

"Maybe your right." He said mournfully. Frodo loved his uncle Bilbo, his entire world had revolved around him for years when he was younger. With all the tales of adventures Bilbo had been a favourite among many of the children.

Gandalf sighed, although Sofia hadn't said it bluntly it was still more blunt then it should have been told to poor Frodo. If Sofia heard the sigh she didn't show it, she was too busy taking in the scenery. Fawks was now singing a happy-go-lucky type of tune that lifted their spirits, even Frodo's. The cart rattled around a corner, children began calling out for fireworks as they raced after the old cart. Sofia smiled faintly when she heard the 'awws' then the yells of delight when three of the fireworks shot out, into the air creating different colours and sparks.

"So how is the old rascal?" Gandalf asked, once again turning the conversation to Bilbo. Frodo smiled at that, "I hear it's going to be a party of special magnificence."

"you know Bilbo." Frodo said with a chuckle, "he's got the whole place in an uproar." Gandalf chuckled.

"Well, that should please him. half the Shire's been invited and the other half is going to turn up anyway." They both laughed at that, knowing that that was probably going to come to pass. Hobbits loved Party's for the obvious reasons, at Party's there were food and drink, you could smoke and there was music...but best of all it was all Free.

"Like I told you Sofia, Hobbits love their food." Gandalf chuckled. Frodo glanced at Sofia out of the corner of his eye, she was watching the Shire with a sort of longing fascination.

Frodo stood, "Gandalf, I'm glad your back."

"So am I dear boy," they watched as he jumped from the cart and ran down a hill, three Hobbits who were walking along the road below began calling him and waving at him. Sofia caught the words: 'Drinking', 'Green Dragon' and for some reason 'Rosie' did Frodo have a crush on this Rosie person?

"Ah here we are." Gandalf said slowing his cart to a stop. Sofia looked up at the Hobbit hole they'd stopped at. Her gaze wandered over the nicely painted front door, down the neatly pruned garden path and onto the small wooden gate. A large sign had been nailed to the gate, proudly announcing:

_No Visitor's apart for Party Business! _

"Very Polite." Sofia said dryly, her hand still stroking Fawkes who had now stopped singing,

Gandalf chuckled, "He actually does enjoy the attention." Gandalf dismounted from the cart and looked up at the house fondly.

"I think I'd be intruding if I went with you. I'll fly around a bit, see you in an hour." Sofia said standing, leaping from the cart she changed into a magnificent phoenix, together, she and Fawkes, flew thru the air. Although Sofia was singing a song it had a bitter and sad edge to it. Gandalf found himself once again cursing who'd ever done what had happened to Sofia, because of them she'd never be truly happy. She'd always have at least that bitter edge. Gandalf hadn't been able to wring the truth from her yet, only bits and pieces. He had often been woken by Fawkes singing Sofia to sleep after a nightmare. Not that he minded it but he did wish that Sofia would talk about the things she had experienced. But she remained firm that she would not speak of it. he'd never met someone so stubborn, not even Bilbo could keep things hidden as long as this and he was a very stubborn old goat.

Shaking the thoughts out of his head he walked towards the door.


	3. Chapter 3

**If you want to vote for the pairings you still can, the pairings are:**

**Sofia/Aragon,**

**Sofia/Legolas,**

**or, if it gets enough votes: Sofia/Aragon/Legolas.**

**if it's a /Aragon pairing then Arwen will be put with an elf. Please R&R**

The party was in full swing, Sofia watched from her perch in a tree. Gandalf had asked if she wanted to join in but she'd refused. If she'd gone she might have ended up killing one of the Hobbits by mistake, when people grabbed her she lashes out to kill. Everyone from Earth had the same response, you didn't grab your friend because the only people who did where the Death-Eaters. It wasn't just her which had made her feel better but now it was. she was too sunk in her memories and habits to respond any different. Mad-Eye had once told her 'You kill because they might come again tomorrow and you might not win that fight'. It was true and it was the unofficial rule in the Order after Voldemort had stepped up his game.

Sofia sighed, her gaze flickering over the field, unintentionally looking for threats. The wind changed and it took all Sofia's self restraint not to jump from the tree and camp on the ground, when moving with the wind people smelt you coming, no not people: Werewolves smelt you coming. Going against the wind was dangerous too but not as dangerous, the people you were going up to couldn't smell you coming. _No one is hunting you._ She reminded herself.

Sofia wasn't telling Gandalf anything of importance because she was scared that he might feel disgusted by her and leave her. it was a childish fear but a fear that had grown in her because of the Dursleys. She had never told anyone about the abuse because she was scared that they would feel disgusted by her and agree with the Dursleys. That fear had grown with her during the war, what if Gandalf heard of how she was tortured when she was sixteen, what would he think if he knew she had lead people into war at fifteen, what would he think if he heard that she'd killed her first man at eleven. She was too scared, too insecure. Hermione had once figured it out and told her that they wouldn't leave her, ever. But where was Hermione? Where was Ron? Seamus? Fred? George? Ginny? Alice? Dumbledore? Mad-Eye? Where was everyone? Dead. they were dead and Hermione had broken her promise, how many other promises had they broken? But that had been the most important one to Sofia, the one that she had her future stacked on, the one where she wasn't alone for the rest of her life.

She smiled faintly when she saw some of the Hobbit children running after butterfly shaped fireworks that fluttered just out of reach, Bilbo was telling a story and by the looks of horror and awe on the children's faces they were sucked up into it, Frodo was doing some strange sort of chicken like dance. The rest of the Hobbits were dancing or eating, a few of them smoking and drinking. They looked so happy and fulfilled, as if nothing bad could ever happen. A tear slid down Sofia's face, she'd never been like that. But it was always what she'd yearned for, what she'd wanted. To be fully happy, to not have to check every move because her uncle might beat her if she made a wrong move, to not have to look over her shoulder because someone might be following her, to not have to ask a personal question to her friends every time she woke up and went to sleep to make sure it was them, to not have to worry about which way the wind was blowing, to not have to be scared to stand in an open field because someone might see you on the other side and then you were screwed. Here that could happen, Sofia wasn't a fool she knew that everything she longed for was here, but...those habits were too ingrained into her, they'd saved her life more times then she'd care to say, Mad-Eye would have killed her if he knew she was trying to _stop_ those Habits. She couldn't flick a switch and loose all the bad things in her life, she couldn't simply stop doing those things. they were part of her, like her hair was a part of her, then again you could pull your hair out if you really wanted to.

She would have cried if she thought she could, she only smiled and laughed anymore because she wanted to make sure she still could, she wanted to make sure that she didn't forget how too. but crying? She only cried anymore because o her Phoenix tears, sometimes a single tear would slip out but that was as far as it got. That was when she was truly sad. She'd once heard the fraze 'Not all tears are bad'. Thinking about it now she assumed who'd ever said that had been thinking of Phoenix tears.

She was snapped out of her thoughts when a big dragon shaped Firework flew up, laughing softly she smiled, she could still laugh! It was faint and soft but she could still do it!

Hearing Fawkes singing she smiled, "Can I forget and move on?" she asked, her mouth felt sore. She'd been smiling an awful lot lately. She looked up at the majestic bird who was sitting up beside her. "Can I, Fawkes?" she asked once more. Fawkes sang a song that felt like new beginnings, when winter was over and spring had began, it was a song of change.

"Speech! Speech!" she looked back at the Hobbits too see that they were calling for Bilbo Baggins to take the stage..barrel. he chuckled and waved his hands, quieting them down.

"My dear Bagginses and Biffins," he called happily, "Tooks and Brandybucks, Grubbs, Chubbs, Hornblowers, Bolgers, Bracegirdles and Proudfoots." Each name was met with a cheer from the families although a rather large hobbit with his feet on the table loudly barked out, "Proudfeet!" there was laughter as Bilbo waved his arms in a dismissive manner. "Today is my 11th birthday!" that was met with another cheer of: "Happy Birthday!" Bilbo laughed and gave a short bow, "but alas, eleventy-one years is far too short a time to live among such excellent and admirable Hobbits." There was another cheer as the Hobbits nodded in agreement, "I don't know half of you half as well as I should like and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve." The cheer that had began at the first part dyed down while the hobbits tried to figure out if they should be insulted or not. Sofia frowned, although she was enjoying the speech she knew that this was the type of speech you tell people who you are never going to see again. "To go out with a bang," she muttered, her eyes sought out Frodo who had a look of cold realisation on his face, he too knew what was happening. Sofia wondered how Bilbo was planning to get out of the field as the angry mutters began to start and grow louder and louder. Bilbo seemed to realise that now was the time to leave because his speech began to wind down, he muttered a few un-understandable words before raising his voice and saying in a voice with a slight waver in it, "I have things to do." his right hand dropped into his right pocket, he brought something out in his clenched fist and hid it behind his back. Sofia frowned, then she was assaulted by a Horcrux like Legilimency probe, but much stronger, which tried to whisper honeyed words into her ear but she blocked it out, the feel of evil was pouring from Bilbo as he fumbled with whatever he had in his hand behind his back. "I've put this off far too long." It was barely hear-able but Sofia heard thanks to the combination of her wolf hearing and her elf hearing. His happy smile slipped of his face, without it he seemed like a different person. "I regret to announce this is the end! I'm going now. I bid you all a very fond farewell. Goodbye." Then he was gone, it wasn't Apperation, it wasn't an invisibility cloak, he was just gone. An aura of evil flared out, as soon as it touched Sofia she screamed in agony, then fell from the tree unconscious, she would have hit the ground if Fawks hadn't caught her and lowed her gently. Angry muttering and shrieks of fear drowned out her scream.

She was woken by foreign magic, acting on instinct she rolled away and landed in a crouch, her knives already in her hand before she realised that it was Gandalf. He watched her wearily, after the first time the amusement had vanished because every time she woke she did that.

"What happened?" he asked, was that concern in his voice? Why would he care?

"Whatever Bilbo had is pure evil," she muttered, "I wasn't prepared for it, so when it hit me my magic reacted on instinct. If it had been a person they would have been burned alive. But since it wasn't it bounced back at me and that resulted in an overpower which did this. It won't happen again because it happened now and I'll be prepared for it. what was it? it felt like a..." Sofia trailed of, no it couldn't be a Horcrux. They shouldn't exist here.

"What? What did it feel like?" Gandalf urged.

"I felt like evil," Sofia said, half lying and have truth. Gandalf gave her a searching look but didn't comment.

"We are going to Gondor, to search thru the archives." He said standing. Sofia nodded, sheathing her knives she followed him. "Were did you put your cart?" she asked, when she saw only his horse.

"The owner of the Green Dragon was kind enough to take it after a bit of persuasion. I hope you do not mind but we will have to share a horse for the ride. It would be too troublesome to walk until we can get another one." Gandalf said.

"No, it wouldn't be a problem." Sofia muttered, Fawks trilled in concern but she shook it off. "I am Fine Fawkes." She mumbled. She tensed when Gandalf lifted her up and put her on the horse, then he mounted too. she felt caged in with his arms on either side of her as he held the reigns but when Fawkes began to sing she calmed down.

Gandalf's horse broke into a canter, tearing forwards, the durst from the road flying up being them. Sofia took several deep breaths, not wanting to get a panic attack on a cantering horse. She fell asleep to Fawkes singing.

The trip to Gondor was tiring and the days were spent with Gandalf teaching Sofia elvish. Elrond would murder someone if an elfling turned up, an elfling that didn't speak elvish. Sofia was surprisingly quick at picking it up, Gandalf suspected it was because it was her natural language.

They stopped at Bree, in Rohan, Helmsdeep then at Gondor itself. The white city, as most people called it, stood beautiful in the sunlight. The towers gleamed like polished marble, the flags were raised to their highest so all could see the white tree on them, but the black mountain behind it drew Sofia's attention. Dark shadows lingered over it, spreading to cover Gondor.

"That, Sofia, is Gondor, behind it lies Mordor and finally Mt. Doom." Gandalf said as they paused to take in the view. Sofia nodded, it looked like a horrible place and all she could see were the sparks of fire and an unholy light that shone like a beacon. "Come." Gandalf urged the horse into a canter once more. Sofia looked at Fawkes who was perched on her knee, he was getting old and sickly. His feathers seemed to be withering, the usual gleam they once had was gone leaving a dulled red and gold.

"Fawkes, why are you not regenerating?" she asked softly, he looked at her sadly making Sofia frown. Usually he regenerated as soon as he got sickly and old. He hated being unable to fly so he always tried to do it as quickly as possible. But for some reason he wasn't, Sofia was worried about him, more then she had ever felt worried over anything. With her sisters and brothers in arms she had worried about them but had known that they could look after themselves, they'd never withered up in front of her eyes like old prunes. She tore her eyes from the sickly bird and looked at Gondor.

When they approached it the doors were opened without anyone asking for a password, _foolish, very foolish_ Sofia thought but didn't mention it out loud. Gandalf went straight to the Archives, not bothering to meet the Steward. But since no messenger ever came telling of any request's they never went up to see him.

Gandalf sat and went thru parchment after parchment, reading what was written. Sometimes Sofia would sit with him and help him, other times she would go to explore the magnificent city. She always kept her hair down so none could see her ears though, not wanting to be questioned by the people or stared at.

When Fawkes _died_ Sofia sat frozen for a day, simply staring in shock at the limp body of the once magnificent bird. Phoenix's didn't _die_ they regenerated. When she managed to get moving she put the feather he'd given to her before he died on a silver chain then gathered sticks and set his body alight. From ashes they came and to ashes they go. after that she was a bit more subdued and tense, without Fawkes there to sing her to sleep she lay awake most nights before exhaustion took her and lulled her to sleep. Gandalf had been sad for her then explained what it had cost Fawkes to go with her, his immortality. Neither of them had said anything because they did not want to worry her, Sofia could not find it within herself to be angry at them. after that she sat with Gandalf most days, rarely wondering out to see the bustling city. She only went out when Gandalf kicked her out and gave her some money to buy 'something nice' he told her. she never brought anything with it but Gandalf had insisted she keep it so she did. she was wondering the city when Gandalf found her, he pulled her along and mounted his horse, and so they were off.

He'd explained on the way what the ring might be, Sofia was understandably worried. Frodo might have a soul anchor in his house. For a moment she thought back to Sirius, and the locket he'd had in his house unaware. Then she pushed that thought away and continued listening to Gandalf retelling the history of Middle-Earth.

She was silent long after the tale was done, her eyes narrowed as she tried to figure out how Isildur had been so influenced by the ring. He had been fighting against Sauron for years and yet he picked up the ring and tried to use it

"And now?" she asked,

"Now, we ride to the Shire, if Frodo had the One Ring then we must bring it to Rivendell and decide what to do with it." Gandalf said grimly. "I must speak to the head of my order, but first to Bree. I will leave you there so you can bring Frodo to Rivendell for me, I will meet you there. Frodo will be at the Prancing Pony, wait for him there."

"Why not bring me to the Shire with you?" Sofia asked,

"I need you to keep an eye out for me, when the Hobbits arrive you must bring them to Rivendell."

"I don't know where Rivendell is." Sofia argued.

"I will ask another friend, Strider he is known as in those parts. His real name is Aragon, or Estel to the elves." Gandalf said, "He will bring you to Rivendell." Sofia sighed and nodded.


	4. Chapter 4

**sorry about the long wait, in school the teachers have gotten it into their heads that it is a good idea to give out tons of homework. also i've been getting headaches if i look into the computer screen for more then 10 minutes. i'm a bit of a slow writer, i'll admit it. so i am sorry about the short chapter.**

**the votes are in, you can stop voting now!**

**Sofia/Aragon: 2**

**Sofia/Legolas: 18**

**Sofia/Aragon/Legolas: 10**

**thanks for voting!**

**to the people who no doubt hate me for killing Fawkes hear me out. i needed to get rid of him at some time and i thought that in Gondor it would be the best time. if i let him stay then he could simply flame them to Mt. Doom, or heal them when they get injured. he was too handy. the only reason he was there was to get Sofia to trust Gandalf. i made her into a untrusting and dangerous character. she would have never trusted Gandalf, prefering to take her chances in the wild then with him. so therefor BAM! Fawkes is there.**

Sofia sighed as she spent another evening in the Prancing Pony, she hated the amount of smoke that floated near the ceiling. She'd known that it would take time but weeks had passed, well two weeks but Sofia had never been a patient one.

What made matters worse was the smell of beer, back on Earth they'd only drunken beer when they were going to honour one of their friends who'd died. Other than that they were stuck on water.

"Sofia!" she looked up and smiled when she saw the bar tender leading four Hobbits to her table. At first he'd been very weary around her. Gandalf had dropped her on his doorstep with a pouch filled with money then been of. She only looked ten so he'd been weary of letting her stay. It was only when she'd broken one of the drunks nose, after he tried to pick her up, that he realised she could take care of herself. "These Hobbits were asking for you, told me they're looking for you." He said.

"Yes, I have been waiting for them." Sofia said. the bar tender nodded and walked away leaving the Hobbits to take a seat. "I wonder why there are four of you, rather than two?" Sofia asked with a smirk at the embarrassed faces.

"Well," Frodo said, "They sort of ran into us then the Black Riders attacked us so they came along."

Sofia sat up, "Black Riders? This is bad. Come," she stood and swept towards her room, she hoped they didn't mind sharing a bed. She had been sleeping on the floor ever since she had arrived so it was no big thing for her.

"Can't we have a beer?" one of the Hobbits whined but his friend tugged him along making him sigh.

Unlocking the door to her room Sofia ushered them in. "Now tell me everything that happened." She demanded.

They spent several minutes going over it, Sofia felt troubled but didn't question them further. It was obvious that that night had shaken them badly.

Before she could speak the door was pushed open, Sofia had drawn her knives and taken a defensive stance in front of the Hobbits before they'd even reacted. A dark, cloaked man slipped in. Sofia hadn't seen him in the bar so she assumed that he'd come especially for the Hobbits.

"Who are you?" her voice as cold as ice, behind her the Hobbits edged away silently. There was something about her voice that made them scared, it spoke of horror and pain. the cloaked stranger simply stood for a moment before speaking.

"I am Strider, Gandalf sent me to bring you all the Rivendell." He spoke in a calm manner, his hands away from the hilt of his sword.

"And I know this how?" Sofia asked, not giving an inch and not relaxing minutely. She didn't know anything about him so she couldn't ask him a personal question that only he would know.

The Ranger seemed impressed that she hadn't simply taken her word on it. "Gandalf told me to tell you, Fawkes. I assume this is the reason why?" he asked. The strange name rolled awkwardly from his tongue. Sofia eyed him for a moment longer before sheathing her knives, she felt a stab of pain at Fawkes's name but didn't let it show. Frodo seemed to notice for the first time the Fawkes wasn't in the room.

"Sofia, where is Fawkes?" he asked hesitantly.

"Died, got old." Sofia said softly, sadness lingering in her tone.

"Oh," Frodo said sadly, although he hadn't known either of them he had liked Fakes a great deal, the magnificent bird had sang so beautifully. "I'm sorry." He added, chastising himself for forgetting it before.

"It is alright, everyone died sooner or later." Sofia said it as if reciting something, a slight frown marred Striders face at her strange choice of words. Most people would have left it at 'It is alright', also the fact that Gandalf had told him that she was an elfling, elves are immortal. Only dying in battle. The only reason he hadn't grabbed Sofia and sprinted to Rivendell was because he needed to bring the Hobbits also. Elfling's were miracles among elves, each of them loved, treasured and cared for. Ada would be happy to have Sofia staying with him, no he would be delighted beyond reason. Gandalf had warned him not to sneak up on Sofia or anything like that for his own safety, seeing how she handled her knives Aragon was forced to agree that she would probably kill first, question later.

"You'd better sleep for tonight. We must leave early tomorrow." Strider said, the hobbits nodded but then glanced at the single bed then at Sofia who was watching with an impassive face.

"You can have the bed, I've been sleeping on the floor for two weeks already." Sofia said, a faint smile tugging at the edges of her lips.

The Hobbits spluttered in outrage at that, Strider leaned against the door deciding to let it play out on its own. he had a feeling from the way that Sofia stood that the Hobbits would be sleeping on the bed no matter how much they protested.

"We couldn't, it's not right." Merry said, Sam nodded vigorously making it look like his head might just bounce off. Frodo and Pippin nodded but at a slower rate.

"I haven't slept in a bed for 5 years." Sofia told him, her birthday had come and gone, she was now mentally 20 and physically eleven.

They looked shocked, especially Sam and Frodo. They had found it awful to sleep outside, Sam had complained to Frodo for hours about a 'dirty great big root sticking into his back'. They couldn't imagine not sleeping in a bed for more than a week.

They argued some more until Sofia, with a smirk, won. So they huffed and puffed and then went to bed. Sofia glanced at Strider, who was walking to the window. He ignored her and pulled the chair that was in front of a dusty mirror towards the window. She observed him silently for a moment before sitting by the wall and leaning against it, from the corner she had chosen she saw everything. From the door to the bed to the window where strider was now lighting a pipe. Crossing her leg she let her eyes slide closed and began to meditate. Although she had her eyes closed she could still sense all the movement in the room, if Strider so much as shifted in his chair she would hear it. meditation had been a way to help everyone relax, some people had taken up art, music, chess... the list went on and on but Sofia had always stayed with mediation, it calmed her and let her set her memories in order. Occlumency couldn't be learned without mediation, Mad-Eye had made sure that Sofia could mediate because it was an important skill. It was also what she was best at, in her cupboard she'd meditated without knowing it. she had subconsciously used meditation to push away the pain from a broken bone, a new scar or something like that. It had also been a way to get rid of the fear, and because she could mediate away her fear it had been a valuable skill after and before battle. The only down side to Occlumency was that you had no sense of time, so it was required to have someone come to tell you when to stop or else you could spend a whole day in your mind and only come out because you were hungry. So instead of going into full meditation mode she concentrated on her breathing, her sense of smell, her hearing and what she could feel.

Time slipped by and Sofia simply sat and listened, to be honest it reminded her a bit of that book, Eragon. What the Elvish rider told him to do, she forgot the exact words but it was something like '_listen to nature until you can hear no more'_ something like that anyway. Her mind jumped from subject to subject until it landed on the sea and refused to move. Sofia had always loved the sea, true she'd only seen it once when they had been attacking a Death-Eater base but she'd still loved it. the rippling waves, the taste of salt on her lips, the salty smell, the golden beach... what wasn't there to like? Of course after they left the water and been red, the golden sand had been strewn with body parts, the salty smell had been mixed with blood and gore but that glimpse of the sea she'd gotten before the fight had stuck in her mind, she'd always imagined of going back. Swimming in the cold water, lying on the soft sand. She'd even thought of buying a house there but it was all for naught. She'd asked Gandalf about beaches but he'd given her a funny look, apparently the sea wasn't all that liked in Middle-Earth. It had been sad for her that people could hate the sea when all she wanted to do was live there.

Sofia was knocked out of her thoughts when a foul screech, that sounded like a Dementor, cut thru the air like a razor. She acted on instinct, the spell on her lips, her hand out stretched, the ghostly figure appeared. when she saw it she almost fell on her arse and broke down crying. The white mist was gone, instead there was faded crimson red and faded glittering gold, a beautiful Phoenix flew thru the air. Even in death he wouldn't leave her. after he'd died she'd been understandably distraught. The one person who she could rely on, the one person who'd always been there for her was gone. Another person added to the ever growing list, but deep down she couldn't help but feel happy, happy that he'd given up everything for her. that he'd kept his promise and stayed with her until the end. She wasn't happy that he'd died, no, she was happy that he'd given it up all for her. no one had ever done that for her and it was amazing for her. her, Sofia Potter. Someone had cared enough to give everything including life up to stay by her side. True he was a bird but he was her familiar, familiars were just below soul mates. He had soothed her after nightmares, he'd taught her how to fly, literally, he'd fought by her side. He would have healed her too if it was possible. By some cruel trick of fate Phoenix's could not be healed by their tears, therefore Sofia could not be healed by Phoenix tears since she was technically a phoenix too. she was still a phoenix, after Fawkes had left Dumbledore he'd still been able to turn into a phoenix. That never left you once you had it.

"Fawkes?" Sofia looked up to where Frodo was staring at her Patronus with awe and a little bit of hope.

"No Frodo, it'd not Fawkes." She said softly.

"Then what..." he trailed of not knowing how to exactly put his question into words without offending her.

"It's his soul, the dead never quite leave you." Sofia said, a true smile on her face. for the first time in years she was smiling. She stared at Fawkes's soul. It might be his soul but Sofia believed it and that was enough for her. her shoulders shook as the stress and sadness were lifted. True and honest laughter rang from her mouth, Fawkes hadn't left her! he had kept his promise. "He's still looking out for me," she said when she had gotten control of her laughter, the Phoenix circled the room, searching for any threats. His glow light up the room faintly. Sam, Pippin, Merry and Stride were staring at the magnificent bird with dropped mouths. They had never seen what Fawkes had looked like before he had died so to them this shadow of him was beautiful.

They were yanked out of their thoughts by another screech tearing thru the air, Sofia allowed Fawkes to fade away as she stood, getting into a ready position as she did so. "Black Riders?" she guessed, twirling one of her knives around her fingers as she asked. She always did it before battle, mediation and this and she was set. It gave her something to focus on and waste her nervous energy on.

"Yes," Strider was staring at the knife that was a white blur by this time.

"What are they?" Frodo asked, his eyes wide with fear and shock. He was staring at Strider so he hadn't yet seem Sofia's knife trick.

"They were once great kings," Strider began, he shifted into a more comfortable position, "But Saruman the deceiver gave to them nine rings of power. Blinded by their greed," Sofia snorted but didn't say anything, "they took the rings without question."

"Sounds like humanity," Sofia muttered to herself. Her mind flashing back to Damien, as soon as his name popped up she shut it out again. She wouldn't think of him.

"Something to say?" Strider asked rudely. He had heard her mutter and wanted to know what exactly was wrong with humanity. He knew his ancestors fault but he didn't think that anyone else would be as stupid as to make the same mistake.

"No, just thinking of my past experience with those things." Sofia said with a glare aimed at the ring.

"You've seen one of these before!" Frodo exclaimed.

"Yes," Sofia said bluntly, "There was once a little boy, his name was Damien. When he was fourteen a war started. like many of the children he joined the war. He fought for good, he fought for what was right. But he never really thought he was doing enough. You see, the head of the army he was in was a girl. A girl who was only fourteen herself. She went out and fought in every battle, she let herself be captured so that her friends could get away. she was tortured for a month but she never gave anything away because she refused to. When she escaped she came back and went back to leading and fighting. To Damien she was a Hero, always there saving lives. Always fighting for everything she believed in. You see she would not allow people to go into the next battle after they had fought in one, so when the third battle came up they went back to fighting, then rested, then fought. To Damien it wasn't enough. So when this locket came, a locket that they needed to guard and destroy he offered to carry it. she trusted in him and let him carry it. to Damien it was a dream come true, she'd _looked_ at him. she'd told him she _trusted_ him. she began talking to him, hanging around him more because she wanted to make sure that he was okay. After a while...they fell in love." She paused, determined not to let any tears escape. Strider and Frodo were the only people to pick up on her voice breaking slightly. "After a while though the locket began to whisper things in his ear, he began to get scared that she was cheating on him, that she only cared about him because he carried the locket. As the days slipped by he got more and more paranoid. He could not sleep, he never ate, he became more ruthless on the battle field. After a while the locket had taken over his mind, he was a puppet on strings. The locket made his attack his own side, his troops, his friends. They needed to stop him, they tried reasoning with him but nothing worked. Then she came, she tried talking to him, she told him she loved him, she told him everything she had been feeling for the past months." Sofia stopped for a moment.

"And she got the locket off?" Pippin asked, he smiled at his made up ending, thinking it was true.

"No Pippin. Nothing worked, so she had to kill him to protect everyone. After that she picked up the locket and wore it, never letting anyone else touch it. no one wanted to anyway."

"Did she become evil too?" Merry asked,

Sofia shrugged, "People thought she became a monster, not because of the locket but because of Damien. She'd killed the only person she'd ever loved. The one boy, no, man who'd ever seen her for her. at first she was his Hero then she became his friend and then his love. When the war ended she was broken, a monster. They locked her in prison and left her to rot." She didn't mention that the Valar had taken her out and brought her here, she didn't mention that she was the monster, she didn't mention that she _was_ a monster. "if what Gandalf sais it true then I would prefer to have a Hobbit carry the ring then a human." The Hobbits all puffed up looking very prideful of that comment.

"And why that?" Strider asked, he glanced at the prideful hobbits to the emotionless elfling. He had a bad feeling that the girl in the story had been her, but that wasn't possible. Was it?

"Because Hobbits are selfless creatures who take pleasure in life's simple things." Sofia said, a smile tugging at the corner of her lips as she watched the Hobbits try to look modest, only Sam and Frodo were succeeding but Pippin and Merry still had their small chest puffed up in pride.

Strider chuckled and look out the window to see the Ring-wraith's mounting their horses and leaving. "We must leave now." He said standing. Sofia was already on her feet before he'd fully straightened up. The Hobbits scrambled for their coats, which they had removed before going to sleep.

An hour later the Hobbits were ready, they had a pony which Strider had bartered for. Sofia had watched in amusement. He'd been failing to get the pony cheaply before Sofia had strode up and asked what the delay was, her silver knife a blur as she twirled it around expertly. A few minutes later they had a free pony. The Hobbits had watched in wonder as Sofia tried to raise the price while moving the knife faster and faster, Bill Ferny, the man who had the pony, had been sweating like a pig, his large face a bright red colour as he reassured her that '_of course she could have the pony for free,_' and _'no it was really okay_' had ended up running away looking like he was cry. Sofia had smirked at Strider and told him: '_and that is how you get your way'._ Understandably the hobbits now had a new Hero. They trailed after her like ducklings follow their mother. Strider was having a hard time not laughing at the look of dawning horror on Sofia's face. she ended up walking behind them with an excuse of: _'I'll make sure that we're not being followed_'. So far she'd nearly killed two foxes, three hares—the hobbits had been very disappointed that she'd held back when she'd realised that what was making the noise wasn't a human—and a bird. It wasn't that she'd mistaken them for humans it was that she'd heard the slight sound of a twig breaking or leaves rustling and she'd reacted thinking someone was following. Strider didn't blame her for it, in fact he'd thought they were humans too until she'd spotted the animals and moved on.

As night fell the Hobbits were moaning about dinner, Pippin was very upset that for the first time in his life he'd missed second breakfast, afternoon tea, supper and a whole load of other meals with fancy names that meant the same thing: Food. Sofia couldn't help but giggle every time Pippin sulked about missing a meal. She had been shocked after the first few times but began to realise that she was healing. Back at the in the laughter had been hysterical laughter, she'd been under so many burdens and under a lot of stress that even seeing her old friend, spirit or not, had brought them up a bit, giving her breathing space. She found being with the Hobbits refreshing, even though they were constantly complaining about food, mainly Pippin, they had a happiness about them that told you that they cared for lives simple pleasures. They reminded her of Fred and George so much that it hurt, but it also brought back some of the memories that she had forgotten. There was a time when she wasn't leaning how to fight for her life, there was a time when one of life's simple pleasures was to sit with Ron and Hermione in front of Gryffindor fire and play chess, read a book, talk about Quidditch, or simply talk and laugh. Those times where the times when Sofia had wished they would never end, that they'd come again. But then she never had time, either too tired, too busy...the list went on and on. She'd lost the connection she'd had with her only friends, they'd grown apart. Every time she saw them they'd turn away and ignore her. they thought she was ignoring them on purpose. So she'd become a loner again, fully emerging herself in her lessons to escape the cruel game of fate.

They stopped and set up camp, Sam readily took the job as chef. He expertly fried and egg, added bacon and turned the sausages. Sofia perched herself in a tree so she could see everything.

"Miss Sofia?" she looked down, had she just been called _Miss Sofia?_ No-one had ever called her that. Sam stood under her branch, in his hand was a plate filled with yummy goodness. Without a second thought Sofia rolled of the branch, twisting in the air she landed in a crouch.

"Thanks Sam, and it's Sofia. Miss makes me feel old." She said with a fake smile. Sam laughed, not seeing the fake-ness behind her words and smile. She might have enough Paranoia to make Moody proud but she'd found that making it obvious that she expected to be attacked around every corner dampened the spirit in war, so it was better to keep those feelings to herself and act happy. She hadn't bothered keeping it up here because there was no war, but now there might be one starting and she was back in her element.

She found it sad that war was the only thing she was good for, but then again it was probably the real reason she'd been brought here. Anyone who knew anything about her knew that she could never settle down due to her past, it haunted her waking moment and her nightmares. The Valar had probably just made up some excuse about childhood and dropped her here so she could become a weapon once more. She wasn't stupid, she knew that all she had ever been to Dumbledore was a weapon. Sure he treated her like his granddaughter but he still let her lead the Order in battle and he never said a word against Moody when he began using the Crucio curse to make her pain tolerance stronger. She was just a weapon after all.

Sitting down beside the fire she listened with a faint smile as she heard the chatter from the Hobbits. They were all discussing the Shire, some moaning about home and feather beds while the other two thinking about the Green Dragon, apparently it was a pub. Rosie turned out to be Sam's crush, not Frodo's. If Sofia had bothered listening to anymore of their conversation she would of realised that Hobbits were such gossipers, Lavender would have found it hard to compete with them.

Instead of listening to their endless babble she chose to ignore them and stare into the fire, memories playing in her mind. Fawkes had made her better, she'd been almost better! Then his death had dragged her back. She'd began looking around corners before walking around them, she'd began sleeping in her wolf form once more, she'd began walking around and judging everyone on a scale of: deadly-dangerous-or not dangerous. So far she was pretty certain when it came to fighting the best any of the Hobbits could do was punch and kick, she'd already classed Strider as a 'Deadly' so she kept one eye on him at all times. If he noticed he didn't say but he probably had, a Ranger wouldn't get very far if he didn't notice people giving him 'I will kill you when you back is turned' looks, not that Sofia was of course but she was giving him 'You attack me I will kill you' looks. Only an idiot would attack her, she had built a reputation during the war to be cold hearted to Death-Eaters. Then again she did only look eleven so she had no clue about how seriously he took her. looking down at her food she cast a detection charm, the Hobbits didn't notice her food glowing blue slightly but Strider did.

He' been watching the elfling ever since they'd met, with the looks she was giving him it was clear that she didn't trust him but wasn't going to attack. He was getting more and more concerned about her the more he learned about her. the most annoying thing was that he knew mostly nothing about her, only what Gandalf had told him and the story that she had told them. there was something about her that puzzled him more then he would like to admit. She was a puzzle, a mystery and the only way to get any information out of her would have to be giving willingly. She didn't seem like the type of person who would let information slip when angered or annoyed. Strider had always been quite proud at his ability to read people like an open book, but he couldn't get anything from Sofia. She seemed to smile but it was fake, he hardly knew her but he could hear the bitter tinge to her laughter, also the way her smiles didn't quite reach her eyes was also an indicator about the fact that it was all fake. He watched with interest as she began to eat, one of her arms curling around the plate, she sat hunched over it, eating at a rate that would have made Pippin proud. It was almost as if she expected someone to try and take it from her. he must have been staring because her cold emerald green eyes rose to meet his, for a moment they stared at each other before she tilted her head to the side, as if asking a silent question. Strider was ashamed to say it, but he broke eye contact first. There was something scary about her eyes, they reminded him of his nightmares of monsters when he'd been a child. Not that she was a monster but because she looked like she'd faced monsters, her eyes were filled with shadows, too many to name. He thought back about the sentence that Gandalf had told him, he hadn't really thought much about it now but now he recognised it as true: _'they piled everything onto her fragile, glass shoulders, so she was forced to become as cold and hard as Diamond. Do not judge her for it, she became what she had too in order to survive'_ he'd thought that Gandalf had been exaggerating, Gandalf did that a lot, but now? Looking into emotionless, cold, killer emerald green eyes he realised it as true. She'd seen too much too soon. He wondered what she'd been like before she'd become like this, had she been like Pippin? Laughing at life's simple things? had she been a joker? A pranker? A laugher? Had she smiled often? Had she worn her heart on her sleeve? Had she been a bookworm? Had she thought of fighting as a game not a necessity? Had she had crushes on different boys like all young girls? What had she been like? But one thing was certain, she'd been strong and she still was. he looked down at his own plate of food, had she needed to eat as fast as she did because someone might take it away? he had lived a sheltered like in Rivendell, it was only when he'd been 20 had his Ada, Lord Elrond, sat him down and told him about the truth of the world, outside their borders. Hearing all about the evil-ness had been what had made him become a Ranger, he'd wanted to make a difference, without being king of Gondor. Abuse had been the worst though, having an adult abuse a child was sick, disgusting. Was that what had happened to Sofia? He glanced at her again, she'd finished everything on her plate and was wiping it with a wet cloth, they didn't have time to go and find a stream just for their cutlery so they'd wet a cloth and were now wiping the grease of their plates. As he watched she glanced around, into the forest, at the Hobbits, and lastly at him. this time he ducked his eyes before she could see him. Arwen would have a fit when she saw Sofia's behaviour. To Arwen it was all sunshine and goodness when children were concerned. Aragon knew where she was coming from but even without Gandalf's warning he wouldn't have tried to smother Sofia like a doting parent. She was dangerous and he knew it, he didn't need to watch how she moved fluidly from sitting to standing, the way she fingered her knives expertly, the way she was constantly looking around for potential threats.

Although neither Strider and Aragon had noticed him, Frodo too was watching. He knew there was something off about Sofia the first time he'd seen her. now he knew what he'd been seeing but not recognising. She walked like Strider. And he was able to see that Strider was a fighter. he'd never linked the two things together because Sofia was only ten or eleven. Just a child. But comparing her to Strider he was forced to realise that she moved like a warrior. He felt sad that she knew how to fight, that she knew how to wield her knives expertly.

"You'd best sleep hobbits," Sofia said suddenly. "We'll be walking even further tomorrow."

She laughed at their groan of misery.


End file.
